According to a recent Consumer Reports story, the average American can consume up to 4500 calories on Thanksgiving Day. That’s the pumpkin pie with whipped cream, gravy on the mashed potatoes, sausage stuffing, buttered rolls and on and on and on. It's all delicious but one needs to burn off the eating.
Thankfully, residing in the Palm Springs- Coachella Valley area presents a myriad of opportunities to assist in burning off the excess energy we ate over the course of twenty-four hours.
Palm Desert Aquatics Center
Open year-round, the three-pool waterpark offers the novice and the avid swimmers alike the ability to burn off nearly 500 calories per hour. During the spring and summer seasons, the aquatic center opens up with slides and kiddie pools for youngsters to frolic.
7351 Magnesia Falls Drive
Palm Desert
(760) 565 – 7467
Hiking trails
Maybe you didn’t excel in swimming class turning you into the next Aquaman or at least Olympian Michael Phelps; hiking is a dominant pass time in the desert communities offering easy to strenuous excursions. Head to the website All Trails where all forty of the area’s desert walks are ranked.
You can even download a map, search for walks that will allow horses, dogs and bikes. An average person weighing 160 pounds can burn almost 450 calories (say “goodbye” to the slice of pumpkin pie!) while a two-hundred-pound individual can exercise nearly 550. Don’t forget to bring your water bottle and hydrate. A flashlight comes highly recommended if you begin later in the day.
Biking
The roads through the nine cities of Coachella Valley (Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert, and Bermuda Dunes) features lanes specifically for cyclists. There is also over 1800 over biking trails for avid two-wheelers to the more experienced. Head to the site Map My Ride and find maps for 92 courses throughout the desert.
Get out and burn a mashed potato or two, so you can eat the leftovers!